Two days into the hit-and-run incident in Dhaka, which left a man killed, police are yet to confiscate the vehicle registered to the wife of Noakhali-4 MP Ekramul Karim Chowdhury.
Senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) officials claimed that they have confirmed the identity of the white Audi SUV’s owner and that the investigating officer has been ordered to seize the vehicle.
They, however, maintain that it was yet to be confirmed, who was behind the wheels during the incident.
Late on Tuesday, Selim Bepari died on Dhaka’s Mohakhali flyover when the vehicle, with the license plate ‘Dhaka Metro Ga 13-7655’.
Several witnesses confirmed that MP Ekram’s son Shabab was driving the car when it ran over the 45-year- man.
The car is registered to the ruling party lawmaker’s wife Kamrunnahar Sheuly, who is the Kabirhat Upazila chairperson in Noakhali.
Soon after the car hit Selim and fled from the scene at least two people followed the vehicle— one on a motorcycle and the other with his car.
Shamim Ashraf chased the vehicle with his car until it entered the NAM flat premises for lawmakers near the national parliament.
“A motorcycle was just behind the car, when it hit the man. The rider immediately started to chase the speeding car and screamed for help, when I started to follow them on my car,” he told Bangla Tribune.
Shamim said he entered the NAM premises following the motorcycle and the car involved in the hit-and-run incident.
“As soon as it entered the NAM premises, a young man came out from the driving seat and yelled, ‘This is my territory. Let’s see what you can do.’ An argument broke between us, when several other people gathered, who was calling the young man by Shabab. The building supervisors and the Ansar members told us Shabab was the son of MP Ekram Chowdhury,” he told Bangla Tribune before adding that the authorities forced them to leave the premises.
Shamim claimed that Shabab forced the motorcycle rider to delete video footages taken during the altercation.
He said the vehicle Shabab was driving is an Audi SUV. “I am 100 percent sure that he was Noakhali-4 MP Ekramul Haque Chowdhury’s son Shabab. Besides that, the young man identified himself after entering the NAM flat premises.”
The couple has confirmed to the media of the Audi SUV’s ownership, but claimed their son was not driving the car during the incident.
“My son was not behind the wheels. It was one of my chauffeurs. It’s an accident and police are investigating,” a Dhaka-based media outlet quoted MP Ekram.
He, however, could not confirm the identity of the chauffeur. “I have five to six chauffeurs and they were on vacation. I am in Noakhali now, so I can’t say who was on duty that day.”
Police said they were confirmed about the vehicle.
“We are trying to find out now, who was driving the car and the investigating officer has been ordered to seize the vehicle,” DMP Deputy Commissioner Masud Ahmmed told Bangla Tribune on Thursday.
But the police are yet to confiscate the SUV.
In an effort to identify, who was driving the car, investigators are now looking for CCTV footages from the accident site.
“We are trying to obtain CCTV footages of the accident to ID the driver,” Assistant Police Commissioner Syed Mamun Mostafa told Bangla Tribune.
Replying a query on obtaining security footages from the NAM complex, he said, “That’s the next step, but what we need now is footages of the accident.”
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